


through prongs' eyes

by corr (emblems)



Series: loved and lost and lonely [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-14 00:09:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1245433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emblems/pseuds/corr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She smirks, and he feels his hair stand up on end. Her resolve was something to behold, that was certain. “I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.”</p><p>Or: Snape's Worst Memory, from James' perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	through prongs' eyes

"Leave him  _alone_!”

He knew that voice. He immediately turned his head, and smiled. Without thinking about it, he ran a hand through his hair, smiling. 

"All right, Evans?" he said.

"Leave him alone," she repeated. "What’s he done to you?" She held nothing back: every word was backed by anger, her green eyes alight with what he liked to describe as righteous fury. Despite the fact it was all directed at him, he felt a thrill go up his spine and had to restrain the urge to smile wider. 

He shrugged. “Well,” he said, “it’s more the fact he exists, if you know what I mean.”

He felt rather than heard the laughter from the crowd, bolstering him further. 

Lily’s brow furrowed even further. “You think you’re funny,” she said, and this time her voice was devoid of fire, each word like ice, “but you’re just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him  _alone_.”

A thought occurred to him—this might be the opportunity he’d been waiting for. If she was as desperate to keep him away from Snape, maybe she would consider…

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," he said. "Go on, go out with me and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

She smirks, and he feels his hair stand on end. Her resolve was something to behold, that was certain. “I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.”

Not even with this leverage, then? James couldn’t help but wonder what would get her to say yes.

"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius says. From the corner of his eye, James sees Sirius whirl before shouting: "OI!"

Before James could even  _think_  of reacting, he felt a quick yet strong flash of pain cross his cheek. He pressed a hand to his face and immediately felt blood there. Without even a second thought, James spun while flicking his wand. 

Just like that, Snape’s underpants were on display for all to see. 

And still: “Let him down!”

He had to take a moment to admire her persistence, and her loyalty. It was wasted on a sot like Snivellus. 

"Certainly," he said. Another jerk of his wand, and Snape collapsed on the ground. 

Snape had his wand half-raised before Sirius lifted his own: “Petrificus Totalus!”

Again, Snape fell to the ground, this time incapable of moving. 

“ _Leave him alone_!”

When James turned back to Lily, he was smiling. It disappeared the moment his eyes found her wand pointed straight at him. “Ah, Evans,” he says, eyeing the thing warily. “Don’t make me hex you.”

Her eyes were steel. “Take the curse off him, then!”

He met her eyes for a long moment. She wasn’t going to back down, that much was obvious. Part of him wondered what it’d be like to be the one she fought for. 

Finally, with a shrug, he turned and cast the counter-curse. “There you go,” he said. “You’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—”

"I don’t need help from filthy little mudbloods like her!"

The crowd gasped. James froze, running the words through his head again, wondering if Snape could have actually been stupid enough to say that. Then, slowly at first, then as if a wave crashing over him, he felt anger take ahold of him. His vision went red at the edges, and his knuckles were white around his wand, he clenched it so tightly.

Lily beat him to the punch: “Fine,” she said, voice free of feeling. “I won’t bother in the future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you,  _Snivellus_.”

Watching Snape’s face fall—the venom turn into disbelief and then despair—something like pride coursed through James. But it was gone as quick as it came, the anger returning in full force.

"Apologize to Evans!" he roared, wand out.

But Lily surprised him again. “I don’t want  _you_  to make him apologize,” she shouted. “You’re as bad as he is!”

James whirled, eyes wide. “What? I’d  _never_  call you a—” he can’t say the word. He gestured back to Snape. “—you-know-what!”

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

She turned and walked away without another word. He called after her, but she didn’t turn around for a second. 

After a moment, he scoffs. “What is it with her?” he asked, hoping his face was composed enough to lend his expression an air of nonchalance. He wasn't sure he succeeded. 

"Reading between the lines," Sirius responded, "I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate."

"Right," he said. The confusion started to fade, and he felt his anger returning. But rather than being directed solely at Snape, he found himself angry at Lily, and—if he took too close a look—angry at himself for managing to screw up so royally. When he turned around to find Snape still on the ground, vulnerable, that frustration rushed up to the surface, eager to have found a target.

He jerked his wand. “Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Defence Against the Drabbles](http://defence-against-the-drabbles.tumblr.com) on tumblr.


End file.
